South Carolina Federal Spending

According to USASpending.gov, the official federal award-transaction dataset, the federal government directed $137.1B to South Carolina in FY2025, translating to $26,788 per resident across a population of 5,118,425. That per-capita figure is 71.2% above the $15,647 national average and ranks South Carolina #9 of 57 states per capita, while total-dollar rank is #11, illustrating the difference between volume of federal dollars and intensity of federal dependence.

The award-type mix shows how federal awards break down in South Carolina by count: 55,618 contracts, 6,154 grants, 17,065 loans, and 27,410 direct payments. The most common award type is contracts at 49.7% of tracked awards in the state, with direct payments a distant second at 27,410 awards. Department of Health and Human Services is the single largest federal agency operating in South Carolina, with $82.8B in obligations - more than Social Security Administration's $31.2B.

Over the available history, federal spending in South Carolina has grown 2.4% from $134.0B in FY2020 to $137.1B in FY2025. Combined with 46 counties receiving dollars and top recipient Department of Health Human Services at $7.7B, this snapshot lets readers judge whether South Carolina's federal footprint is expanding, stable, or being scaled back relative to FY2025.

It helps to read state totals through two different lenses. Total dollars measure the raw volume of federal money flowing into a state, which naturally favors larger and more populous states. Per-capita spending measures intensity, how much federal money lands per resident, and it surfaces smaller states whose economies lean heavily on federal installations, contracts, or transfer payments. The two rankings often disagree, which is exactly why both appear above. The award mix matters too: contracts signal procurement of goods and services, grants flow to universities, nonprofits, and local governments, and direct payments include programs such as Social Security and Medicare that scale with population. Every figure comes from USASpending.gov, the federal spending-transparency system the U.S. Treasury has operated since the DATA Act of 2014. Federal outlays exceeded $7.0 trillion in fiscal year 2025 (CBO Monthly Budget Review), and these are official government records rather than estimates, though late-posted and corrected awards can adjust a state's totals after the year closes. Our methodology details the per-capita denominator, the award categories, and the data vintage.